The purpose of this multi-year proposal is to request funding to support a number of outstanding young investigators, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students to attend the biennial "FASEB Summer Research Conferences on Microbial Polysaccharides of Medical, Agricultural, and Industrial Importance". The next meeting will be held June 17-22, 2006 in Tucson, AZ, with future meetings proposed for 2008 and 2010. This meeting is designed to bring together established and new investigators in the broad field of microbial polysaccharides to facilitate the exchange of new concepts in microbial pathogenesis and immunity, polysaccharide-based vaccines and therapeutics, cell biology, plant biology, industrial applications, gene regulation, and structure/function. Presently, few venues are available to promote the interactions of scientists from academia, industry, and government agencies in these diverse areas, and this meeting has provided this unique setting when held in 1997, 2000 and 2004. Two years will have passed since the last meeting and many new concepts, and techniques have been developed since that time in these areas of research. For the 2006 meeting we have proposed nine sessions that will cover in detail new topics and ideas that have emerged during this time. As at the last highly successful meeting on this topic, session topics and poster presentations will be organized to integrate various topics. In addition, the poster sessions and scheduled free time will allow informal interactions to occur in order to promote future collaborations and enhanced training opportunities for young investigators with those individuals more established in the field. We will continue the tradition of selecting the best abstracts from young investigators to be presented during two 15-minute talks planned for each session. This will further encourage these important interactions. Nine women will be speakers or serve as session chairs for the 2006 meeting, and we will actively promote this meeting to minorities and persons with disabilities. Based on previous meetings we expect a diverse group of attendees, including a broad international contingent at both the 2006 and future meetings. These biennial meetings will continue to provide a unique environment for scientific exchange between diverse groups of investigators in the area of microbial polysaccharides. Microbial polysaccharides have played a significant role in public health through the development of polysaccharide-conjugate vaccines, therapeutics and medical applications for diseases such as ear infections, meningitis, pneumonia, arthritis, joint pain, skin disorders and cancer. These advances have benefited millions of children and adults to date, and new developments in microbial polysaccharide research will continue to be very beneficial to society in the future.